Wampum

Issue: Whether tribal courts have authority to decide a civil lawsuit that involves business dealings between a company owned by a member of the tribe and a bank that owns land on a reservation, but itself is not owned by a tribal member.

The issue in Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land & Cattle was whether tribal courts have jurisdiction over a dispute between a nontribal bank and a company that is majority Indian-owned. More than 51 percent of the owners of the South Dakota ranching company in the case are members of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, and, as such, the company was entitled to loan guarantees from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Roberts seemed concerned about how a bank can be expected to know whether a company it is dealing with is a so-called "Indian corporation," thereby triggering tribal court jurisdiction. After all, companies incorporate under state, not tribal, law.

"That's a concept I don't understand," said Roberts, who then pointed to the left side of the bench and added, "If Justices Scalia and Alito form a corporation, is that an Italian corporation?"

Amid laughter, veteran advocate David Frederick of Kellogg, Huber, Hansen,Todd, Evans & Figel wisely sidestepped the issue. "I would like to beg the indulgence of the Court in not answering that question specifically."

In the past, Justice Antonin Scalia, like many other Italian-Americans, has bristled at being described as Italian since he, like Alito, was born in the United States, not Italy. But Scalia went along with the joke and interjected with a question of his own: "And do we get special loan guarantees?" Justice Samuel Alito Jr. was laughing too.

Isn't Roberts funny? Via BLT.